^“14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.”

So first of all, a couple of things! One: the two groups being talked about here are the Jewish converts to following Jesus as the Jewish Messiah and the Gentile believers completely new to this early Christian faith. Secondly, the people that Paul is writing to in this letter would mainly be coming from that second group of new converts.

Why is this important? Paul’s words preceding today’s verse highlight the very long distance that these gentiles have travelled in a very short time. They were once far away but have been drawn near. Prior to Jesus they were ‘without hope and without God in the world.’ And potentially there has been a little bit of division as some of the ex-Jewish believers have started to look down on their new church family as somehow inferior. 

So that’s the background, but again why is it important? Because I still think we do the same thing today. We divide ourselves on issues of style and preference, liturgy and informality, personalities and podcasts. Sometimes there may be no intentionality behind these divides but they’re formed from long held beliefs, not unlike the issue of circumcision in the church at Ephesus.

But this is not the Church that Jesus called into being, this is not the church that is to be the city on the hill, we are not to be a ‘dividing wall’ that causes others to fall away. We are to be a church at peace. But interestingly our verse today does not state that this peace is something to aim for, but someone who calls us together. 

Jesus, himself, is our peace. The more we all individually and corporately seek Jesus, act like Jesus and do the things that Jesus did, the more our church will be united and at peace.

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Application:

What steps can I take to bring peace into this world?

Prayer:

Father God, help me to fulfil my role in your church, to become more like Jesus and more united with those who belong to you too. Together use us to transform this world for your glory. In the name of Jesus who is our peace. Amen.